Multidelivery unit for improved train order delivery devices



y 1952 w. WHITE MULTIDELIVERY UNIT FOR IMPROVED TRAIN ORDER DELIVERYDEVICES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10, 1947 INVENTOR. Z/z'ZyZ. Z/z'ze,

ATTORNEYS May 27, 1952 w. L. WHITE MULTIDELIVERY UNIT FOR IMPROVED TRAINORDER DELIVERY DEVICES I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eileapt. 10. 1947 J WW ATTO RN EYB W. L. WHITE MULTIDELIVERY UNIT FOR IMPROVED May 27, 1952 TRAINORDER DELIVERY DEVICES v 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 10, 1947 IINIENTOR.

ATI'D RNEYB May 27, 1952 w, wHlTE 2,598,628

- MULTIDELIVERY UNIT FOR IMPROVED TRAIN ORDER DELIVERY DEVICES FiledOct. 10, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 VII/11b7,

' 1m -E 31 NEW 33- i 32 I ATTD RN EYE Patented May 27, 1952 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE MULTIDELIVERY UNIT FOR IMPROVED TRAIN ORDERDELIVERY DEVICES Wiley L. White, Calwa City, Calif.

Application OctoberlO, 1947, Serial No. 779,124

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a train order delivery device.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a train orderdelivery device which will deliver train orders at different elevationsalong the train and wherein provision is made so that a plurality oftrain orders can be delivered at the same elevation as when there aretwo or three locomotives pulling a train and each engineer is to have atrain order, the delivery device will, in succession, deliver the trainorder at the high elevation and to each of the several engineers.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multipletrain order delivery device arrangement whereby the release of the firsttrain order delivery element will cause the movement of the next trainorder delivery element into its lowered station and so on.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a multiple trainorder delivery unit which is of simple construction inexpensive tomanufacture and efficient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a sideelevational view of my train order delivery unit with one of the trainorder elements lowered into position, another in the raised position anda third element in the extended or released position.

Fig. 2 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken through the adjustablesupport and as viewed on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2a is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing a modifiedform of support.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary and front elevational view of thedelivery device with the several elements at different positions.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are respectively cross-sectional views taken on lines44, 5-5 and 6-45 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary and rear elevational view of the supportingplate extending laterally from the vertically'extending support.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 11.

Figs. 9 and 10 are respectively cross-sectional views taken on lines 9-9and Ill-l of Fig. 8.

Fig. 11 is an end elevational view of the attaching element shown inFigure 8.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary rear face view of the laterally extendingplate.

Fig. 13 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken on line |3--I3 ofFigure 3 with certain of the parts removed.

Fig. 14 is a front elevational view of the laterally extendingsupporting plate taken with the hinged brackets in their loweredpositions thereon and with certain of the parts removed.

Fig. 15 is a fragmentary enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the linel5l5 of Figure 14.

Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 16-! 5 of Figure 15.

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the train order unitsshowing the attachment of the train order cord thereto.

Fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view taken through the cord retainer andmounting plate, the view being taken on line l8l8 of Figure 17.

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary elevational view of the post showing one of themounting brackets thereon.

Referring now to the drawings, 2| represents a post which is formed withtelescopic parts 22 and 23 which are preferably made of light weightmetal. The part 22 may be slid on the part 23 to adjust the heighth ofthe post and the lower end of the post is removably set in an opening ina concrete base in the ground, wherein it may readily be removed forsafety reasons. The train orders are attached to the post while it is inposition in the base. Units 24 which have outwardly extending arms 6|and 62 for holding the train orders are removably mounted on the section22 of the post. The units 24 may either be affixed to individual plates16 or 16a as shown in Figures 3 and 19, or a plurality or battery ofunits may be provided and these may be mounted through a plate 25 whichis held on the plate or bracket 16 by headed projections 18, with astrap 26 at the back held by a bolt 21 with a nut 28 at one end and abolt 29 at the outer end, as illustrated in Figure 13. In order toprovide for a connection of one unit to the plate 25, there is fixedover the inner end of the transversely extending plate 25 a bracket 3|,Fig. 14, having keyhole openings 32 therein with reduced portions 33.Each unit 24 has a U-shaped supporting member 34 having headedprojections or studs 35 thereon adapted to enter the openings 32 and bedrawn into the narrowed portions 33 whereby to fiX the unit to thebracket 3| and the plate 25.

At spaced locations outwardly from the bracket 3| on the plate arehinges 31 and 38. To these hinges there are respectively connectedbrackets 39 and 40 adapted to be hinged upwardly to a raised position ordownwardly to a position where the unit will be in place to dispatch thetrain order. When the brackets are down they are retained in place by acatch device 42, Figs.

l5 and 16. This catch 42 includes a lever 43, a spring 44 and a hookformation 45 on the lever 43. The lever 43 is pivoted on a pivot pin 46.The hook formation 45 will engage the lower end of the hinged bracket toretain the same in place when the unit is dropped. The brackets 39 and40 also have openings 32 with narrow portions 33 to receive the trainorder units.

On the plate 25 is a laterally extending plate 41 to which are connectedclips 48-, best seen in Fig. 6. There are two sets of clips 48, one setat one side of the hinged bracket 39 and another set at the oppositeside of the bracket 39, In these clips there is journalled' a horizontalportion 49 of a double arm lever having a handle extension 5| and an armextension 52 extending at an angle thereform. The end- 52 of the armextension 52 enters. a slot 53 in a lug 54 on the side of the hingedbracket. On the-side of each of the brackets 39 and 40 is an eye 55 to.which a tension. spring 5.6 is connected. The opposite of the tension.spring is, connected by eye: 51:, to' the handle portion 5 l.

The location. of thisspring, its size and strength, is very. essential.It performs two iunctiorlsfirst, it: holds the trip lever in the notch.on the bracket in such a manner that it makes this device positivelyshake-proof in set position. Second, itvery essentially assists inpulling theperpendicularly; set. unit down to a delivery position uponthegpreceding unit being; released, increasing the speed of thisdownward. movement. Tension ofthis. spring can be adjusted at lower. endalong the length of trip; lever It works the same regardless from whichdirection the train. approaches it.

In addition to the U-shaped member 34, each unit 24: includes. amounting housing 59, Fig. 6, for pivoted. arms 6,! and 62. The pivotconnection of each arm is efiected by a pivot pin 63 extending through.a sleeve 64 on the lower end of the; The sleevet4; has a tension springfidconnected to it and: this tension spring is anchored. onthe. forward;end of the. housing 5.9; by. a fastener 66. The spring. 65 will-tend top'ult the armto down position: as in the case of the; lower". arm amitoa raised position as in the case- 01 thau-pper arm. In other words thearms 6t and 62 will be spread apart by the action of the springs: 65-.The housing 59 is fastened to the U shaped member 34 by an attachingmemberfi'lg- Fig. 6; through which extends a pivot bolt 68% The arms 6iand 62' when pulled by the springswill be retained against stops 69. Thehousing 59 and; the attaching member 61 will be retained in an extendedposition in the ti -shaped member 34 and in advance thereof by a springdevice H, Fig; 8'. The unit can turn w one side or the other when thespring. pressure onthe device H is overcome. A stop Ill limits the swingof g the attaching member 61 of unit 24.

The arms H and 62 will be retained in a position bya train order cord12' having a train order i3 thereon. This cordf'is arranged intriangular fashion over hooks on the ends of arms 6! and .62 and'itsinner en'dsecured under a clip 14 so as to provid'ean opening throughwhich the arm of the engineer or trainman can be extended. Thecord [2keeps arms 6i and. 62 closedi against tension ofIsprings 65.

A modification. is; illustrated in Figure 2a wherein the inner tubularsection zap: the post isiformed of a specialstructuralshape and it willbe understood that the post may be of any suitable shape or design.

As hereinbefore stated the plate has headed projections or studs 18 onthe back that are inserted in keyhole sockets "H in plates 16 and thenthe plates 25 are clamped to the post by straps 26 with bolts 2'1 and23. As shown in Figure 4 the material struck from the plate to form thesockets TI is bent backward to form spring flaps 1 8* that resilientlyhold the heads of the projections 18.

In the upper part of Figure 3 a plate or bracket 16 is provided whichextends to the opposite side of the post, and it will be understood thatas many of these plates as may be desired may be used and they mayextend toward either side of the post. The plate 76 is provided withsockets 71 similar to the sockets H of the plate shown Figure 19.

Only one unit after the cord has been connected to it, is extendedlaterally at one time. The handle portion 5| of the lever 49 is ex:-tended into the path of. one of the arms of the unit. When a cord ispulled from the first unit which is adjacent tothe vertical rod:support, and on. the inner end of the plate 25, the force with which thearm 62. of the unit en gages with handle 51 and overcomes tension ofspring 56;,- willcause portion of lever 52,. car rying projection 52% todisengage from slot-153 of upright. lug 54; of swing bracket 39,.allowing spring 53 to forcibly pullbracket 3-9,v assisted by downwardpressure; of; a portion oi lever: 52 against lower portion oi slot. 53'to; draw quick- 1y. downwardly into place. the succeeding, unit 2t.Catch 42 will retain. the bracket in. the down position When the trainorder hasbeerr taken from the second unit, a similar operation will beeiiected. The unit 24 will have-itsarms spread and the lower arm 62:will in turn engage the handle arm portion 54:- ot lever 49, which.engages with the third unit on the hinged. bracketv 40. The bracket. andthe unit. thereon. will be brought downwardly.

When the first order is taken and fork arms. M and (52 retract back tonormal; or. perpendicular position, bottom arm. or fork stick strikes.the trip lever of second order unit, which is: setting in non-deliveryDQsition, This overcomes ten: sion of the trip lever spring andunlatches the second unit. This spring very forcibly pulls the fork frompositionand on-tinues itspu l-l, assisted by gravity and the pryingmotion of trip lever. which. is being shoved downby the.- bottom forkstick of the first unit to: a delivery position. combination oi forces,pulling down on thezfork, makes its movement into delivery position veryfast and positive.- Theaction of. the secondnunit has no eiieet onthethird; unit until the. same cycle as. explained for the second-unitis put into motion; then bottom fork; stick arm of second unit strikesthetrip oi the third; unia, repeating the cycle through for; the-thirdunit, combination assembl-y of subordinate units could be extended onindefinitely or to any desired numher, hsu -partiscomplete with-mitself. and is only dependent upon. the unit behind it as. a means fortripping.

A spring latch catch: is properly located and secured to theplate:2-5:.so: as ta catch over a projection at the bottom end. ot theswinging bracket to. hold this; bracket down securely when at rest in.the. delivery position.- This latch-is ao-- J tuated by the momentumand: weight of thev swinging bracket when moving down into the deliveryposition, and it forces the latch back against its compression spring.passing on by until the bracket projection is underneath the hook end ofthe latch; then the latch snaps back into the normal position over thespecial projection, holding the swinging bracket at full rest indelivery position.

The function of this latch is very essential as it prevents the reboundor the bouncing of the -l swinging bracket with its delivery forkattached, when the delivery position has been reached. If this reboundis not prevented it often occurs at the exact instant when the enginemen'or the trainmen are all lined up to take orders from the fork-at highspeed. This procedure on a fast moving train is similar to aiming a gun.If the target moves at the instant the trigger is pulled, you mostcertainly will miss. Now if the fork unit is permitted to bounce, theengineers arm will pass underneath, thereby missing the order, then thetrain will have to be stopped, and at high speed it will mean going bythe station as much as two miles, having to walk a flagman back beforethe reverse movement can be made to procure the missed order which mightcause as much as thirty minutes delay to the train and the purpose ofthe machine has been defeated and thus can be seen the purpose andimportance of this spring catch.

The device -of my invention effects a delivery capacity of 5 or 6 setsof orders instead of the usual 3 or 4 and does not affect the normaldelivery position of the train crews orders. The device is a unitcomprising a machine complete within itself and weighs less than twopounds.

Provision is made for firmly locating and securing the device to abracket on a telescoping post and it is designed to deliver 1, 2 or 3sets of orders in rapid succession, in either direction, from the samehorizontal plane to engine crews at cab window height when attached tothe top of the post, and the use of another unit placed in a lowerbracket will give double delivery to train crews. The delivery is fastand positive regardless of the direction of train movement and its useis an added safety feature for enginemen, trainmen, and operators.

The operator preparing for a three engine train delivery with themulti-unit in service, places a fork on the stationary bracket, and thenext forks on successive brackets, the latter two swing up or down bybeing hinged at the upper end to the aluminum plate and secured at thebottom by a spring thumb latch secured to the plate. After the units areset, the operator unlatches and swings the second and third units upuntil the trip lever automatically latches. After delivery of themessages or orders to the train crew, the units are removed and themachine is ready for the next delivery setting.

It will be apparent that I have provided a train order delivery unitwherein a multiple number of units can be located at one elevation andwherein these units can be used in succession, the preceding unittripping the following unit to bring it into place to dispatch a trainorder. It will be further apparent that, the arrangement may havedifierent units mounted at different elevations and either to dispatch asingle train order or to dispatch a plurality of train orders.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. In a train order delivery stand, the combination which comprises avertically adjustable post, a horizontally disposed plate having spacedsockets therein carried by the post,'a second. plate hinged on saidhorizontally disposed plate, spaced sockets on said second plate, aU-shaped supporting unit having headed studs thereon removably held bythe studs in the sockets of the second plate, a mounting housingpivotally mounted in said supporting unit, outwardly extended arms withcord holding hooks on the outer ends pivotally mounted in the saidhousing, springs in the housing attached to the inner ends of the armsand housing for urging the arms to outspread inoperative positions withthe arms aligned and perpendicular to a center line through the housingbetween the pivotal mounting points of the arms, a spring clip on thehousing for retaining a train order cord, an endless train order cordtrained through the hooks at the outer ends of the arms and spring clipsfor retaining the said arms in angularly disposed outwardly extendedpositions, a latch for retaining said mounting housing with the armsextended in substantially a horizontal position and a second latch forretaining the second plate and said mounting housing in an upwardlyextended position with the said arms substantially verticallypositioned.

2. In a train order delivery stand, the combination which comprises avertically adjustable post, a horizontally disposed plate having a pairof sockets therein and spaced pairs of sockets hinged thereto removablymounted on the post, a plurality of brackets having studs extendedtherefrom for retaining the brackets in the sockets of the plate, aplurality of mounting housings pivotally mounted in said brackets,outwardly extended arms with cord holding hooks on the outer endspivotally mounted in said housings, springs in the housings attached tothe inner ends of the arms and housing for urging the arms to outspreadinoperative positions, spring clips on the housings for retaining trainorder cords, endless train order cords trained through the hooks at'theouter ends of the arms and spring clips for retaining the said arms inangularly disposed outwardly extended positions, latches for retainingthe brackets of said mounting housings with the arms in extendedsubstantially horizontal positions, latch elements for retaining thesaid spaced pairs of sockets that are hinged to the plate in upwardlyextended positions with the said arms substantially verticallypositioned, springs for urging the said mounting housings from upwardlyextended positions to horizontally disposed positions, and meansreleasing the said latch elements retaining the said brackets with themounting housing in upwardly extended positions when train orders areremoved from the arms of the horizontally disposed mounting housings bythe outspread movement of one of the arms.

3. In a train order delivery stand, the combination which comprises avertically adjustable post, a horizontally disposed mounting platecarried by the post, said plate having a pair of vertically alignedkeyhole sockets therein, a plurality of plates having vertically alignedkeyhole sockets therein hinged on the said horizontally disposedmounting plate with the said keyhole sockets thereof aligned withcorresponding sockets of the mounting plate, latch devices on the saidhorizontally disposed mounting plate for retaining the hinged plates invertically disposed positions, latch elements also carried by themounting plate for retaining the said hinged 1 plates; m: herizontmlydime QQSiiiiliID- having? snide pnsitiened; t0: .eaaetmith' saidmounting housmgsrtw amms in inoperative positions, 2:. releasing:lexzelzr 2mm? ated by one: of the armaozf the mounting; hensings whenthe: 2mm. iseneleasecl 01: releasing one o fthe said latch; elements;retaining the hinged plate; brackeflimmmfingi and: amms' in upwardlyextend'ezl resilient means aetuati ne one ofisaizii hinged; pistes and}elements carried. thereby fie downwardly disposed: parsitfone as; one 0fthe: said; elements rein saidx brackets; amms pimtal'ly 5 meunfied insaid spningss 8 leased ands 13min Qndencarrxing; cnr fi; extended fromsaid, mounting musings and, oven the outer ende of the arms-01:retaining; the; arms, aneulamly dispqsed; oufiwardly extendedepqsitiensg REFERENCES amen The following references are of record in thefiie of this patent:

, UNITED STATES'PATENI'S Numbell Name Date 1,203 596 Feninger'et a1. Nov1.. 1916 11,332,790: Ault Mai-t. 2, 1920 1 333923 Luntsford 16, 1-3202*,363-311: White et aL. New. 21,, 194A

